The Shadow
Gary Kirts, a 1972 graduate of Dabney S. Lancaster Community College (renamed Mountain Gateway Community College on July 1), provided a luncheon for MGCC’s forestry students at his farm on Wed., Oct. 26.
Attending the luncheon with the forestry students were the following: Dr. John Rainone, president of MGCC; Billy Newman, associate forest management technology instructor; Vickie Pickle, scholarship coordinator for the MGCC Education Foundation; and Ben Worth, academic vice-president of MGCC.
Kirts, a retired agriculture teacher from Windsor High School in Ilse of Wight, Va., was born in Christiansburg in 1951, and he and Evelyn Kirts, his wife who graduated from Radford University, often visit their farm adjacent to Wesgate that Gary and Evelyn co-own with Gary’s sister, Dr. Carla Kirts.
In fact, the 25 acres on which the Wesgate homes are situated once belonged to Gary’s great grandfather who owned 100 acres on Iron Gate Hill. After Gary’s grandfather inherited the farm, he sold 25 acres that eventually became the settlement of Wesgate located on the hill above the Town of Iron Gate.
After being blinded at work as a boilermaker for the C&O Railroad in Clifton Forge, William “Bill” T. Waddell, Gary’s grandfather, continued to farm with the help of what Gary describes as “…a seeing-eye cow named Rosie.”
Following the luncheon on his porch that provides a perfect view of the mountain that separates Wesgate from the Town of Clifton Forge, Gary led the forestry students on a path through the woods to view a special white pine that stands more than 100’ high, one that Gary cannot reach around with both arms.
He told the forestry students that the special tree was one that his grandfather used as a guide point after being blinded. Thanks to Rosie with her cowbell, Bill’s cow would lead him to the tree, and despite his blindness, guide him from there to his farmhouse, where, of course, Bill would feed her.
As for the forestry lab, some 70 acres of timber are available on the farm, and it provides forestry students with a hands-on-lab to hone their skills.
Gary and Dr. Carla A. Kirts, his sister, provide access to the land that has become known as MGCC’s Waddell Forestry Lab, and 28 students in the two-year forestry program at MGCC continue to be benefited by the hands-on opportunity to work on forestry beyond the classroom.
MGCC is the only community college in Va. where students can earn an associate degree in forestry. Also, the two-year program’s credits can be transferred to Virginia Tech where a student can earn a bachelor’s of science degree in forest management.
Rainone remarked, “We have an articulation agreement with Virginia Tech so they (those who complete the two-year program) can get a bachelor’s degree in forestry.”
He continued, “The agreement with Gary is for a lab space for our students to use on his property.”
“This (forestry program) is one of our oldest programs at the college,” Rainone observed.
He concluded, “We are entering our 52nd year with this program, and the college is now 60 years old.”
Worth, a graduate of West Virginia University, noted, “Our students get a lot of hands-on experience out in the forest, and our program provides students with state-of-the-art equipment.”
He added, “They are out visiting sawmills and working in the forests in addition to their classroom work.”
Newman remarked I’ve been working as a professional forester for 38 years.”
“You know that you’re getting old when you are harvesting trees that you planted,” he quipped.
After Gary’s tour through the woods to view the special white pine that his grandfather relied on for directions, Newman conducted an instruction session on forest safety for his students after they put on their safety gear and brought their chainsaws to a designated area on the hill where a hydraulic log loading machine was parked.
Dr. Carla A. Kirts, Gary’s sister who co-owns the farm, lives in Smithfield, Va. now where Gary and Evelyn live, but she spend most of her career in education in Alaska where she was a professor at the University of Fairbanks before being promoted to dean of student services and vice-chancellor before she retired.
Gary and Carla inherited the farm near Wesgate that has substantial acreage in Botetourt County and Alleghany County, land that they continue to provide free usage of to MGCC as a forestry lab.
Gary remarked, “As long as I am living, this property be mine, and I’m the 4th generation.”
While serving as the agriculture teacher in high school, Gary worked with the FFA, and he and his sister are both committed to providing MGCC with use of their land.
“I’m proud of the program, and I feel that it is a way of paying back in a way that has changed my life,’ Gary concluded.
As the only forestry program of its kind in Va., students from out of state and throughout Va. enroll at MGCC, and those in attendance at the luncheon were Devin Persinger, from White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.; Augustine Weikle, Glace, W.Va.; Jacob Rak, Lexington; John Carr, Albemarle County; John Williams, Churchville; and Sarah Payne.
